Re: Were Intellectual Property to be abolished altogether, would you or FSF support it?

[Yasuaki Kudo]

Platform Cooperatives... is a word invented and used by people who advocate 
cooperative alternatives to on-demand employers like Uber.  I would prefer 
GPL-style license and I dislike server-side black boxes.   In a worker coop 
however, we only have one-vote-per-worker so I would have to have a good 
argument to convince my fellow workers.  That's why my inquiry in the first 
place 😄

> 
>> * Create Platform Cooperatives
> 
> What does this mean?  If you mean to create Service as a Software
> Substitute, please consider it is as abusive to the user as is non-free
> software.
> https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/who-does-that-server-really-serve.html
> It is important to show others that we do ourselves as we recommend
> others to do.

I think many of them are just hired hands and leave whoever paid them for the 
work with the right to choose any software license, including proprietary or 
black box, as they please.  I have done the same in my 20+ years of wage work 
for Capitalists 😄

> 
> Do you mean that these international cooperatives do not develop free
> software, but they are only focused on maintenance of existing free
> software?
> 

Not so much, I think - but yes, I heard terms such as Cooperative have very 
negative connections in many countries where corrupt governments coopted and 
colluded with them. 😅

>> Cooperatives are usually considered to be socialists and are in favor
>> of creating common good for the society.
> 
> Sure.  Does this give a bad image to the group in Japan?
> 
> In Ecuador, it is considered better.  But there have been some bad
> experiences that taint the image of socialist initiatives.  It is
> important to take care of showing that the horizontal structure is not
> bad.  It is necesary to do things better and more honestly than the
> capitalist structure for the image of socialism not to be tainted.
> 
>> If/when we develop business oriented software for the existing or new
>> cooperatives, or federation of cooperatives, I am very curious what
>> our consensus, or discussions leading up to it, will be regarding
>> software licensing and Intellectual Property at large.  😄

Yes, we will find out!  Being just one vote of the many fellow workers, I would 
need to have a good argument for free software and this email thread should 
help 😄

> I suggest to start small and prove that your intentions provide good
> results.  Sometimes, out of practicality, people side with their
> opposers because they think it is better to get something unjust done
> than do nothing because good values would not be held otherwise.  There
> are also cases where activists show only the superficial results (such
> as security, good functionality, ease of use) and then loose when it
> comes to compete with non-free software.  Non-free software can
> sometimes be better in those areas.  Free software is sure to win only
> if the freedom issue is taken as the requirement and the other
> characteristics are taken as desireable. In order to have long term
> success, we must enhance freedom and mention the other characteristics 
> as an extra advantage.